ORANGE — On Thursday, July 18, 2024, at 11:27 a.m., Lieutenant Adam Cooley of the Orange Police Department received a phone call from Clerk Magistrate Joella Fortier of the Orange District Court informing him that there was a woman in his office who was attempting to obtain a restraining order against her husband.
(The account and quotations in this article were sourced from the printed Personnel Narrative of Officer Cooley and do not reflect any political perspective or personal opinion of News Link Live, which is strictly a business entity.)
“Clerk Fortier stated that the husband had showed up during this process and was actively trying to convince his wife not to go forward with the order. Chief James Sullivan and I responded immediately to the court house,” Lieutenant Cooley said.
When the officers arrived on scene, Chief Sullivan spoke with the husband, later identified as Bryan Meattey, who was seated in the lobby of the clerk’s office. Meanwhile, Officer Cooley escorted Meattey’s wife to a separate room in the clerk’s office to ensure her safety and conduct an interview.
According to police, Bryan T. Meattey, 42, resides at 138 South Main Street, Athol, MA, with his wife.
“Chief Sullivan remained with Bryan while I spoke with [his wife],” Officer Cooley said. “I asked [Meattey’s wife] what was going on and she explained to me that a few weeks ago her and Bryan were involved in a verbal domestic situation which led to Bryan taking her phone and snapping it in half. This resulted in the Athol Police Department responding and taking a report which ultimately did not lead to any criminal charges, however, due to them actively being a foster care household, [Meattey’s wife] was being encouraged to go to the court house to obtain a restraining order against Bryan.”
Meattey’s wife said that she did initially go to the courthouse to get the restraining order, but due to the lengthy process, she ran out of time to get one before a judge because one of her children needed medication.
“[Meattey’s wife] went on to explain that she came back to the courthouse today to follow through on the order and while she was doing so, Bryan arrived at the courthouse,” Officer Cooley said. “[Meattey’s wife] explained that she had gotten a new phone and Bryan was somehow able to track her location and just showed up. [Meattey’s wife] went on to explain that Bryan was trying to convince her not to go through with the order because they both hold license to carry firearms and own a lot of firearms. Shortly after, we arrived on scene. While having this conversation with [Meattey’s wife] I noted her eyes to be red as she was visibly crying and upset do the situation. I spoke with Clerk Fortier and confirmed this all to be truthful.”
Officer Cooley said that while Bryan was speaking with Chief Sullivan, he admitted to using Snapchat to track his wife’s location. “Bryan stated to Chief Sullivan this was a normal practice for them to do this,” Officer Cooley said.
After speaking with Clerk Fortier, Officer Cooley made his way back to the lobby from the clerk’s office, located Bryan, and placed him under arrest for intimidation of a witness. Bryan was then transported to the Orange Police Department for booking.
“Once at the Orange Police Department, Bryan was booked per policy,” Officer Cooley explained. “While doing so, I removed Bryan’s license to carry and informed him that on behalf of the Athol Police Department, he was being notified that his license to carry was being suspended and that I was seizing his physical license to carry card. Bryan understood. Bryan later revealed to Officer [Chad] Softic in the booking room that he had a pistol in the console of his truck which was parked at the courthouse. Officers informed him that they would need to seize the firearm.”
Officer Jungfil Seo then went to the Orange Court House’s parking lot, unlocked Bryan’s truck, and located a loaded Smith and Wesson 45 Shield pistol in a holster.
“Officer Seo noted that the console itself was not locked in any way,” Officer Cooley added. “This firearm was then seized as evidence.”
In addition to the witness intimidation charge, Bryan was also charged with improper storage of a firearm.
Bryan’s bail was set at $10,000 cash.
Bryan was arraigned in Orange District Court on July 19, 2024. After the arraignment, he was released with an ankle monitor that included an exclusion zone around his residence at 138 South Main Street in Athol. As part of his release conditions, he was required to stay at least 50 yards away from his wife, refrain from abusing or harassing her, and not possess any dangerous weapons or firearms.
Bryan attended a pretrial hearing on Sept. 9, 2024, which was continued to Oct. 25, 2024.
Disclaimer: If you are wondering why the incident in this story was from August, that’s because I had to file FOIA request(s) to get the court documents for the incident. FOIAs are time consuming.
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